Mock26:Yeah, so what? Tentacle anomalies in octopi are not unknown. If this was an extremely rare new species then I could see the point of all the anger and angst and butthurt. But if this was just a freak mutation then they family did the right thing by removing its defective genes from the pool.

Mutation is one of the component in evolution. It is not always a bad thing.

BloodyL:Makes me wonder if the Fail is up to some sort of sensationalist staged story trick here. Can't work out an angle that makes sense, though, but that's usually the same case for half of the stories the Mail runs.

I looked into the photo credits and and the only thing I can fathom is that they had a reporter who was vacationing, had a deadline, and made the non-newsworthy worthy.

ChipNASA:sandi_fish: That makes me sad. What kind of human encourages their children to kill innocent animals?

people who need food, some of my fondest memories are of me and my sister cleaning and quartering a deer for our dad because he had a weak stomach for it, was about the only time me and sis got along when we were younger and provided us with meat for a good while. Humans are omnivores and predators, we are very good at killing other things, though its a shame that this rare octopus was killed I do not blame the person who ate it, at least he didn't just throw it away and waste it.

what makes me sad is the amount of people who have no respect for where their food comes from or the work it takes to produce that food, or the sacrifice of the life that provided that food. I highly doubt this is the first or the last six tentacled octopus to be eaten by a hungry individual.

mikefinch:I think the problem stems more from the fact they found something rare and unusual and their first reaction was to club it.

"What a freaking looking strange octopus! WHACK"

And as for the sexopus thing -- [upload.wikimedia.org image 220x313]

Its been done.

Ray Harryhausen did it first in 1955 for "It Came From Beneath the Sea." His budget didn't allow for the creation of an 8-tentacled octopus, and the entire creature was never completely revealed on camera, so he only made 6 legs for it. There are a ton of nods to and parodies of Harryhausen's creatures in "Flesh Gordon," especially Nesuahyrrah.

Dragonflew:Exactly, but most people can't go a day without having something to be OUTRAAAAAAAAAAAAGED about, and this is as good as anything.

I don't know if anybody has ever suggested this to you, but you shouldn't eat the wildlife in a strange place, especially when it hasn't been properly identified. But this seems like the general intelligence level of breeders.

strathmeyer:Dragonflew: Exactly, but most people can't go a day without having something to be OUTRAAAAAAAAAAAAGED about, and this is as good as anything.

I don't know if anybody has ever suggested this to you, but you shouldn't eat the wildlife in a strange place, especially when it hasn't been properly identified. But this seems like the general intelligence level of breeders.

If you're calling me a breeder, you have no idea what you're talking about. I am child free. And if you make up your mind about someone's intelligence just because they have children (or are "breeders", to use your childish term), you're a fool.